The new "report cards" for New York City's public high schools are out (you can read them here) and they do not paint the prettiest of pictures for our city's students, especially considering the fact that education has been one of the biggest touchstones for the Bloomberg regime. According to the data only one in four students who enter high school in the city are ready for college after four years and less than half of those that are ready bother to enroll. Shame Mayor Bloomberg can't blame this on Cathie Black, eh? more ›

The Department of Education released its latest school progress report cards, and this time the curve is gone. Last year, 84% of public schools got an A, but this year only 25% did. The NY Times says the shift "was largely predetermined," and besides the 25% of "A" schools, there were "35 percent B’s, 35 percent C’s, 4 percent D’s, and 1 percent F’s. No school that earned an A last year could get worse than a C, and the schools that earned B’s last year could do no worse than a D." more ›

The Department of Education's new round of school report cards showed 82% of high schools getting A's and B's, "up from 65% last year," according to the Daily News. (Grades of schools K-8 were released in September.) However, there some struggling schools, like Washington Irving near Union Square, which received an F for a second year in a row. You can find the "school progress reports" here. And the Independent Budget Office says it costs the DOE $130 million/year to grade schools; initially private money funded the endeavor but the NY Times reports the IBO estimates NYC "will spend $105 million" next year. more ›

Talk about accountability: The NY Times reports that Schools Chancellor Joel Klein, who ushered in report cards for public schools, may also grade the staffers who organized the news conference announcing this year's school grades! It turns out that Klein already grades his press aides. Example: "Preparation: Please grade, using an A-F scale, how well you were prepared for the appearance by the press office staff." (but the Times semi-snarks the press grading form is "far more straightforward than the formula used to evaluate schools"). The chancellor's press secretary declined to comment, sending this e-mail to the Times: "Value of this story: F." more ›

According to the NY Times, P.S. 8 in Brooklyn Heights was once praised by city officials for its turnaround from a school "avoided by the well-off residents of neighboring brownstones" to one "so popular...it has doubled its enrollment since 2002." Even city officials recently praised its success. But now, the city will give it an F on its school report card, because the Department of Education says students aren't improving at a rate comparable to other schools. However, others blame the city's grading system. As Inside Schools put it, "More-than-majority weight on student academic progress — measured by standardized test scores — means that schools that start with more kids on or above grade level can show less ‘progress’ than more challenged schools." more ›